Lake in Argentina May Offer Clues on How Life on Earth was Started

A lake in Argentina’s remote, inhospitable, northwest sector may offer clues on how life got started on Earth and how it could survive on other planets, scientists say.

Researchers have found millions of “super” bacteria thriving in the oxygen-starved Lake Diamante, in the center of a giant volcanic crater located over 15,400 feet above sea level.

The bacteria’s habitat is similar to that of primitive Earth, before living and breathing organisms began wrapping a protective atmosphere of oxygen around the planet. The conditions could also shed light on life beyond Earth. This discovery is of great scientific interest as it sheds light on Earth’s past and also on the science of Astrobiology, which is the study of life on other planets.